Argentine national soccer team midfielder Angel Di María (34, Juventus) was selected as a ‘God’s move’. On this day, he contributed to the championship by playing an active role as a “special helper” for his “best friend” Lionel Messi (35, Paris Saint-Germain).
Di Maria started and scored a penalty kick (PK) in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final against France held at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar at 0:00 am (Korean time) on the 19th, followed by a goal scorer. and contributed to Argentina’s victory.
Di Maria made an unexpected and surprising start. As the evaluation that he performed sluggishly throughout the tournament was dominant, it was predicted that he would not make it to the final. In fact, he did not exert any influence except for the game that contributed to the victory by recording an assist in the group stage match against Mexico, and eventually his playing time decreased significantly as time passed. In particular, he played only 8 minutes from the round of 16 to the quarterfinals.
However, coach Lionel Scaloni (44, Argentina) overturned expectations and threw Di María as a starter. He has a lot of experience and has been included in the starting list believing that he has shown a particularly strong appearance in big games from before.
And it hit perfectly. On this day, he played a perfect role as Messi’s ‘special helper’. Actively moving from the side, he broke the French defense and created threatening opportunities by actively shooting.
In the end, Di Maria acted as the ‘fixer’. In the 22nd minute of the first half, in the process of making a bold breakthrough inside the box, he tripped over Ousmane Dembele (25, Barcelona) and got a PK. Messi, who started as a kicker, calmly succeeded and scored the opening goal. 안전놀이터
Di María, who regained confidence by shaking off her previously sluggish performance at once, continued the flow and scored an additional goal. In the course of a counterattack in the 36th minute of the first half, Alexis McAlister (23, Brighton & Hove Albion) received a pass and ended the goal. It was the first goal of the tournament.
After that, Di Maria played an active role freely crossing the left and right sides, and ended the game when he was replaced by Marcos Acuña (31, Sevilla) in the 20th minute of the second half. After a close match that went to the penalty shootout, Argentina won thanks to Emiliano Martinez (30, Aston Villa)’s ‘saving show’ and became the third player in his career (1978, 1986, 2022) and reached the top of the world in 36 years. .
On this day, Di Maria’s performance during the 65 minutes was 10 out of 10. His performance could have been overshadowed as the two teams fought fiercely until the penalty shootout, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that he shone the most in the final stage.